This is my fitness related blog. I created this on the day I start training for my first marathon, just a few weeks short of a year after I found myself in the worst shape of my life. Something had to change. Me. So I did. And I am. I want to see what this 1974 vintage body is capable of. Hence, my Mantra (courtesy of Tool): Push the envelope. Watch it Bend.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Life at 88 MPH?

TRAINING REPORT:

Re: the Title of today's blog, Monday was a "don't" and I feel lazy for it. There. I've said it. I was sore from my run on Sunday, but my arms, shoulders, core, back, and chest were fine. My excuse is that we were having satellite TV (Dish) installed and that took up more of the day than I expected and before I knew it, there was no good time to get a work-out in.

But I could've. I just didn't make the time. I did manage to whip out a few sets of push ups and pull ups before going to bed, but it was simply to rationalize that doing SOMETHING (anything) was better than doing nothing.

In the grand scheme of things, so what? It happened. Now it's in the past. Can't be changed. Move forward.

So much of people's hang-ups and obstacles with diet and/or fitness gets distilled down to what they did (or didn't do) that day, or the day/week/month/years before. "Today I ate Oreos and drank delicious egg-nog on the sofa while watching a workout DVD*; oh woe is me! I can't diet! I can't work-out. Pass the Bon-Bons and the remote..."

Every day is a new choice. Don't allow your past dictate your future. If you don't like where you are today, you don't need a DeLorean to go back and "fix" what led you here. Accept that you are now who you are and take responsibility for what led you to where you are today. If you don't like it, set a new course! Each day, dedicate yourself to making the right choices to get to your goal. Will you get there the first day you start? Not if you set a good goal! But each day, you make the choices that lead you closer to that goal.

Training to run a marathon isn't something you do in a week or a month; some say it takes over a year to get in proper shape to train for a marathon. I take my training day by day and I know that at some point I'm going to skip a run or a workout for any number of reasons. The key is to look at the big picture and know that missing one day (or several) isn't going to destroy any chance of reaching that goal. The cumulative effect of training is what's going to get me over the finish line, not any one workout. Diet is the same way. I *plan* on blowing out my diet one day a week knowing that the overall impact isn't going to affect my long terms results if I stay on-task for the rest of the week.

Stop wasting energy on wishing things were different in the past and start spending energy in the present to make a better future.